Enlightened actually has the smallest audience of all four of those shows, but is coming off of a relatively well-reviewed first season and a just-announced Golden Globe nomination for star Laura Dern.

Variety says that one reason HBO was so brutal was a simple lack of space on their schedule. For now, the network is sticking to only programming their big shows on Sunday nights (with a couple other series airing Friday nights), after attempts at Monday night programming blocks have failed to get many viewers.

In 2012, HBO has several new comedies debuting, including the Judd Apatow produced Girls, Veep (starring Julia-Louis-Dreyfus), Ricky Gervais' Life's Too Short and Angry Boys, plus a new season of Eastbound & Down. That's in addition to HBO's revolving Sunday night one-hour dramas, including the new David Milch /Michael Mann series Luck, Game of Thrones, True Blood, Aaron Sorkin's Newsroom, Treme and Boardwalk Empire.

Per usual, things are a bit foggier regarding Curb Your Enthusiasm, as that series is known for extended hiatuses, until Larry David is inspired to begin work on another year of the show.